Man’s Murder Conviction Overturned After 12 Years In Prison

A Georgia man, who has served 12 years of his lifetime murder sentence, is entitled to a new trial after the Georgia Supreme Court overturned his conviction.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, Derrick Cartwright was found guilty of murdering Kevin Stafford on April 3, 2006. On Monday the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that his trial lawyer and appeals attorney failed to present evidence contradicting a police officer’s testimony that was deemed crucial to the jury’s decision.

His trial took place in 2007 and lasted four days. Prosecutors had four eyewitnesses who said they saw him shoot Stafford. But, AJC reports their testimony was inconsistent, and the defense challenged their credibility, citing that two had felony drug convictions and a third was facing felony charges at the time. One of the witnesses also admitted to using cocaine right before the shooting took place.

Five witnesses for the defense reportedly testified that Cartwright was asleep in his family’s apartment the night Stafford was shot. Cartwright blamed the shooting on an alleged cocaine dealer who testified against him.

According to reports Detective Andrew Tyner, who interviewed Cartwright after he was arrested, said that he never mentioned an alibi after his arrest. But, the lead police investigator, Bernard Spicer, testified during Cartwright’s 2006 preliminary hearing that Tyner had told him the suspect did have an alibi. However, the defense attorneys never called Spicer to the stand. And a second defense attorney also failed to call Spicer to testify during his initial appeals.

During a 2012 appeal, the state Supreme Court to ruled that, “Cartwright has failed to establish a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have become different if Detective Spicer’s testimony had been introduced to impeach that of Detective Tyner.” Cartwright’s conviction was upheld.

In 2016, Cartwright filed a petition for habeas corpus, which is a civil action against the authority holding the defendant in custody. This was also denied by the state Supreme Court, citing that Cartwright didn’t testify during his original trial and only presented his alibi defense through his five witnesses.

Following that denial, Cartwright’s attorney, J. Mark Shelnutt, filed an appeal that his appellate counsel and original defense attorney provided ineffective assistance, which was approved by the Georgia Supreme Court, effectively overturning his conviction.

The Georgia Supreme Court found that his “appellate counsel performed his duties in an objectively unreasonable way” and that his trial attorney “whiffed on this issue,” regarding cross-examining Tyner’s testimony and calling Spicer to the witness stand.

Shelnutt told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirerthis means prosecutors will either have to try Cartwright again or seek some other resolution, such as a plea agreement.

Until then, Cartwright will still be held on the murder charge, but he may be granted bond by a Superior Court judge. Snelnutt told the newspaper a bond motion will be filed. District Attorney Julia Slater told the Ledger-Enquirer that her staff hasn’t decided whether to retry Cartwright.

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R. Kelly is back in custody for failing to pay $161,633 in child support to his ex-wife, Cooks County Sheriff's Office confirmed. He was detained after a hearing this afternoon and will remain in jail until he pays the full delinquent amount owed, sheriff spox Sophia Ansari says pic.twitter.com/QBE63KadBW

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In the interview R Kelly talked about the most important thing to him is having a relationship with his kids. He could start by paying the $160k child support he owes but that's none of my business.#rkellyinterviewpic.twitter.com/NGH3VifSUK

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Continue reading R. Kelly Back In Jail Again…For Not Paying Child Support

R. Kelly Back In Jail Again…For Not Paying Child Support

[caption id="attachment_3024097" align="aligncenter" width="842"] Source: Chicago Tribune / Getty[/caption]
Hours after his contentious and bizarre CBS interview with Gayle King aired, R. Kelly is back in jail for not paying child support.
According to USA Today, the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was arrested and taken into custody in Chicago on Wednesday following a hearing over unpaid child support. He faced a charge of failure to pay $161,000 in back child support, which being behind by $20K is considered a felony in Illinois.
Kelly’s publicist, Darryll Johnson, said the singer showed up with $50,000 or $60,000 but the judge wanted the full amount paid, the Chicago Tribune noted.
“As you know, he hasn’t worked in a long time,” Johnson said.
However, when asked how Kelly can still live in the Trump Tower, he replied that Kelly “has some money.”
https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1103409902851186690
The Pied Piper will be transferred to jail and will stay there until he pays what he owes his ex-wife Andrea Kelly. His former wife of 13 years said that the singer stopped paying her for their three children when she started to speak about him in 2018.
In January, Kelly’s estranged daughter, Buku Abi, posted a lengthy note on Instagram in which she called her father a “monster” and wrote:
“My mother, siblings, and I would never condone, support or be apart [sic] of ANYTHING negative he has done and or continues to do in his life.”
Kelly’s next court appearance will be March 13.
[caption id="attachment_3020853" align="aligncenter" width="765"] Source: Chance Yeh / Getty/andrea kelly[/caption]
As we previously reported, Kelly had been currently out on $100K bail that a fan and friend, Valencia Love, posted for him last week. Kelly was released from jail last Monday after being arrested “and charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were minors.”
The allegations date back to 1998 and span more than a decade. Kelly could face up to 70 years in prison if found guilty on these charges.
Of course, folks took to Twitter to express their thoughts on Kelly going back to jail for unpaid child support and how salty the woman who bailed him out last week must be right now.